Since the holiday’s inception, non-Black Americans have largely ignored it despite its storied history.
Activists and leaders looked to Juneteenth as a landmark to achieve recognition for years, but the Black Lives Matter movement put Juneteenth in the national spotlight. July 4th has become a federal holiday for the first time since 1983 – when Martin Luther King Jr Day became a federal holiday.
Several companies and brands take advantage of Juneteenth, which is now a national holiday, in marketing campaigns that celebrate the historic event. While Juneteenth may be synonymous with a long weekend and branded products, it represents so much more.
The history of the holiday is worth taking a closer look at as Black Americans continue to face the same challenges and injustices that drove so many people to protest in 2020.
Slavery was abolished on this day in 1865
Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States and is also known as Emancipation Day and Independence Day.
In 1865, the Union Army finally freed African Americans at Galveston, Texas, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into the city and issued General Order No. 3. A double entendre of June and 19th, it marks the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger released the enslaved African Americans.
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” the order read. “This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
After President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which wasn’t enforced in Confederate areas, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were freed two and a half years later. It also came about two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia – an event generally considered to be the end of the Civil War.
This is how it’s celebrated
African Americans in Texas eventually moved to other parts of the country, so the informal celebration of freedom became a wider commemoration of freedom. Today, many African Americans mark Juneteenth with parties, parades and gatherings with family and friends.
Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. In addition to it being a federal holiday, all 50 states and Washington, DC, recognize Juneteenth in some form.
In response to Juneteenth’s mainstreaming, activists and leaders argue that Black Americans are still dealing with systemic inequalities in the form of the racial wealth gap, disproportionate incarceration, and longstanding health disparities. The White House will be adorned with a pan-African flag and a commission will examine reparations, according to one coalition of civil and human rights groups.
Those calling for lasting change suggest that marking Juneteenth can then be seen as an opportunity to look back and contemplate how far the nation has come – and how far it still needs to go.
Citations
Have a proud and happy Juneteenth! Juneteenth World Wide Celebration Symbol. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.juneteenth.com/
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, June 19). Juneteenth. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth
Google. (n.d.). Google image result for https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/juneteenth-celebration-royalty-free-illustration-1652896016.jpg. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fhips.hearstapps.com%2Fhmg-prod%2Fimages%2Fjuneteenth-celebration-royalty-free-illustration-1652896016.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oprahdaily.com%2Flife%2Fa32893726%2Fwhat-is-juneteenth%2F&tbnid=vMECU4TyYEtbKM&vet=12ahUKEwispbb8_bj4AhXlGjQIHfHnD9kQMygFegUIARDlAQ..i&docid=dnWz8OQQUOxweM&w=3511&h=2022&q=juneteenth&client=safari&ved=2ahUKEwispbb8_bj4AhXlGjQIHfHnD9kQMygFegUIARDlAQ
Jonathon M. Poe 
